Victor Boyhan (Independent)
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The Minister of State, Deputy Dooley, is very welcome. I thank him for coming to the House.

Joanne Collins (Sinn Fein)
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I welcome the Minister of State. It is nice to have him back here. My Commencement matter relates to wind turbines and the effects they have on rural communities. Two wind farms are being proposed in County Limerick, one in Coolcappa and the other in the area of Bruff and Dromin-Athlacca. Both of these wind farms will have wind turbines of 158 m, which are extremely high wind turbines similar to the ones seen on the main motorway from Limerick to Dublin, so you can imagine the height of these near houses. These wind farms are causing unbelievable problems in the area because the proposer of the wind turbines has given his land, where these wind turbines are proposed to go, but the people in the houses, schools and communities nearby are completely opposed due to the distance and proximity to their homes. They reckon they will completely lose the value of their homes if these wind turbines go up. They will not be able to sell when it comes to it, nor will they even want to pass them down to their children because of the flicker effect and the noise of the wind turbines.

It is really frustrating that we are working off guidelines from 2006 when new guidelines were drafted in 2019. We are in 2025, six full years since these guidelines were drafted, but they have not been published. Local authorities are completely inconsistent with their plans and procedures for wind farms. They are working off old guidelines. They do not know if the wind turbines going up at the moment will be within the new guidelines. If the new guidelines come out and stipulate that we cannot have turbines at a height of 158 m, these new ones that go up will not be pulled out. They will not. Realistically, once something goes in, that it is it; it is in.

Another big issue for our rural communities is that when these wind turbines go in, people will not be able to get planning permission to build a house on all the land in the surrounding area. We are going to end up depopulating our rural areas. It has happened in the past. Two wind turbines went up and I know the family who lived in a house near the turbines. They were far enough back from the house that no one objected because they were not going to be in the way, but when their son came of age and wanted to build a house on the land they owned next to the house, he could not build there because it was too close to the turbines. We are stopping future planning permission by putting these turbines in the middle of these rural areas. We need to be protecting our future planning for our rural areas. I ask that these guidelines be published immediately.

Timmy Dooley (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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I thank Senator Collins for raising what is an important issue. It is an issue that is regularly vented in both Houses.I come across it regularly in my constituency, as does the Senator. It is important that we try to put in context why we as a State are encouraging renewable energy, and the importance of it.

It is important that people in communities engage collectively and also with the developer in the first instance. Some of the developers do not make enough effort to engage with the local community and that is regrettable. Of course, it is, as set out in law, available to any citizen or group to make submissions to the local authority or, indeed, to An Coimisiún Pleanála in relation to issues so that proper planning is followed. That is part of the process generally.

As an island nation with one of the best wind resources in the world, Ireland is uniquely positioned to lead Europe's renewable electricity future. We are a world leader in onshore wind. As I said, we get a greater share of our electricity - approximately 35% - from onshore wind farms than anywhere else in Europe. That is important in terms of decarbonising our economy. Deploying onshore wind at scale reduces our reliance on imported fossil fuels, which are subject, as the Senator will be aware, to volatile global markets. By generating electricity domestically, it will stabilise and potentially lower energy prices for consumers. I set that out to put a context on why wind farms and solar farms are an important part of our energy mix.

Analysis that has been done by the ESRI suggests that early delivery of onshore wind this decade will drive down wholesale electricity prices by up to 10%. That is important for homeowners and it is important, from an Irish perspective, in terms of attracting jobs to Ireland.

Another clear advantage of offshore wind development, particularly for rural communities, as the Senator will be familiar with, lies in the opportunity it affords to meaningful community benefit. Under the renewable electricity support scheme, all projects receiving State support are required to establish a community benefit fund. These funds ensure that host communities share directly in the value generated by the wind energy. They enable investment in community facilities, educational initiatives and local energy efficiency measures.

I set that out in the full knowledge that somebody who does not want a wind turbine close to their home sees little benefit in that community gain because they see others benefiting from it and they feel there is an imposition on them. It is not for me to lecture anybody. I see some communities and people who have real concerns and then the wind turbines are there a while and they accept them.

There is a lot of concern about the devaluation of property but, in truth, it does not materialise. There is an initial shock to say, "Who would ever buy my home?" Most homes will never be for sale anyway, quite frankly, because they are people's homes. So long as there is proper planning and appropriate measures are taken, it generally works out reasonably well. It is still important that communities engage collectively, come together and seek the best professional advice in terms of making submissions - there is nothing wrong with that. I meet people who are supportive of renewable energy but say, "This might be a little bit too much for my community." The system is there to protect everybody. If people, first of all, look at the really positive benefits of taking out fossil fuels from the energy mix and of recognising that there is potential gain for the community and juxtapose that with what might be their objections and engage with the planning process fully, there is an opportunity to work through all of that.

Joanne Collins (Sinn Fein)
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Like the Minister of State, I see reducing energy costs as definitely a plus. However, if you cannot build on your land and you cannot get planning permission because your land is now going to be too close to the turbine that went in last year, it does not matter what the electricity cost is as you cannot live there. One without the other does not seem to work. That is my issue. These two policies, one trying to repopulate rural areas and the other trying to provide for wind energy, are going against each other. They are not going to work together. I again ask that the Minister release these guidelines that were done six years ago and have them published so that we have symmetry across all planning areas whereby you have the same rules for every county.Loads of land in this country is never going to be used for building. We have plenty of bog land that could be used for wind turbines. Let us try and get them in the right place and at the right height in order that we do not underpopulate our rural areas.

Timmy Dooley (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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I take the Senator's point about getting the right location. Any sites have to have the appropriate amount of wind. They have to be elevated or at least in a wind tunnel. Local authorities over the past ten to 15 years, through the development of county development plans, have identified areas - certainly in the county that I know best - suitable for wind energy development. In some instances, it was passed with the acquiescence of the councillors at the time and then the councillors took a different view when an element of opposition came into play. It is very difficult to get the matrix right.

I know from my experience in the Department that we have a real issue as a country in meeting future demand from an electricity supply perspective. It is significant. We see the concerns about the difficulty in attracting inward investment, data centres and how important they are to our economic development. We need more energy. It has to be clean, without oil, coal or gas. It is going to be a challenge for the years ahead; in the next five to six years we will have to grapple with that. I take the Senator's point into account and thank her for making it.